testua / by: asier leoz

Bost urte eman ditu Geoff Wilkinson eta Mel Simpson kide dituen lan taldeak emaitza berririk argitaratu gabe. Coltrane, Gillespie, Parker eta gainontzeko jazz munduko maisuei begira egin zuten "Broadway & the 52" izeneko lan hura ezagutzera eman zutenetik pasa direnak hain zuzen. Egunotan "An ordinary day in an unusual place" kaleratu dute. Lehen bost minutuetan, hiruko ingelesaren inguruan gorde zitezkeen aurreritziei lur ematen die.

US3 jazz eta rap musikak ondoen korapilatu zituena izan zen. Guru-ren "Jazzmatazz" bildumak baino lehenago eta proiekzio komertzial handiagorekin. Abesti bat izan zen giltza: "Cantaloop (Flip fantasia)". Herbie Hancock-en musika oinarritzat hartuta (berea zen "Cantalope Island") jamaikar koloreko errezitatu motela tartekatzea oso bide egokia gertatu zitzaien. "Hand of the torch", US3-ren lehen diskoa, jazza eta hip hop-aren lainopeko bidegurutze horretan zegoen kokatuta. "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia)" eta "Tukka Yoot’s riddim" bezalako abestiek etxeko labela eman zion US3 taldeari. Hortik aurrerakoak egitura beretsuak izango ziren, baita Steven Spielberg-en eskutik The Flinstones delakoen bizipenetan sartu zutenean euren Be Bop/Funk ukitua ("I showed a caveman how to rock"). Bigarren lana izan zen "Broadway & 52th" izenekoan ordurarte sakondu gabe zituzten erritmo ilunetan apurka barneratu baziren ere, benetako aldaketa orain etorri da.

Egun arrunta ez usteko toki batetan

"Zorionekoa ezer espero ez duena, berak ez baitu kalerik jasoko". Disko baten barneko orrietan esaldi hori topatzeak harridura sor dezake. Lan osoa ondo entzun ondoren ordea, zentzua dauka. US3ek lan desberdina egin du. Desberdina eta bikaina. Izan ere US3-ren lan berri honetan, ez duzu beraien ustezko eskema horri lotutako kantu askorik aurkituko. Haietako bat "An ordinary day in an unusual place" ezagutzera eman dezan aukeratu dutena, "You can’t hold me down", baina hemen ere ohizko saxoaren esaldi eranskorraz aparte, ustez behintzat talde honi arrotza zitzaion asian-beat eragina azaleratzen du US3-k sitar doinuak bere musikan uztartuaz. Antza denez Talvin Sign, Indian Ropeman edo Asian Dub Foundation-en lanak Blue Note zigiluko jazz klasikoen eskuko CD poltsa berberan eraman dituzte azkenaldian.

Protagonista nagusia Alison Crockett. Bere ahots indartsuak jantzi ditu lan berriko abesti gehienak. "Let my dreams come true" esate baterako. James Bond etxeko filme berria Habanan kokatuta balego honek izan beharko luke, ezbairik gabe, bertako soinu banda, Shirley Bassey mojito artean. "Sugar sugar (She she wah wah)", "Pay attention" eta "Get out" jungle zitala besteak beste, Alison Crockett-en eztarria dute lagun, US3-ren ekarpen berriko emaitzarik onenak direlarik. Baina bestelakorik ere badago, lehen aipatutako indiar ukitua Swati Naketar-en kolaborazioari esker areagotua ("India"), blues soil bat oinutsik ( "Shady people") eta US3-ren betiko jazz/hip hop abesti horietako bat ("Why?") zeinen musikaren inguruan gabiltzan erabat ahaztu ez dezagun.


US 3's new disc, "An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place", has just reached local record stores, about five years after they became known for their "Broadway & the 52", a doffing of the cap towards giants of the world of Jazz like Coltrane, Gillespie, Parker and all the rest. Any preconceived opinions you might have had on this English trio go straight out the door before you've heard the first five minutes.

US3 have been the best band to fuse Jazz and Rap. "Cantaloop (Flip Fantasia), which appeared before the "Jazzmatazz" compilation and had much better commercial projection, was the key to everything. They really hit the bull’s-eye by mixing Herbie Hancock music and slow Jamaican style speech. Their first record, "Hand of the Torch", was a concoction of Jazz and Hip Hop. songs like "Cantaloop (Flip flop)" and "Tukka Yoot's Riddim" became hallmarks of US3's quality. The stuff they did after that followed the same scheme of things. This can be clearly seen on "I showed a caveman how to rock"; the Be Bop / Funky-ish track they recorded for Spielberg's The Flintstones. Even though the Wilkinson/Simpson pairing flirted with some darker rhythms on their second record, the real change has come about on this, their latest release.

An ordinary day in an unusual place

"Happy shall be he who expects nothing, for he shall not suffer". Finding a phrase like that on an inner sleeve might seem surprising, but once you've heard the record you'll see it makes sense. US3 have come up with something different. Different and brilliant. You won't find many songs of the type you've become used to hearing from the band on this record. "You can't hold me down" is the single they've chosen to promote the release of "An ordinary day in an unusual place", and though you may find the customary brass section, what was hitherto un- associated with the band, Asian-beat, makes its presence felt with the use of sitar. It seems they've got their hands on Blue Note's classic jazz releases of work by Talvin Sign and Indian Ropeman. Alison Crockett signs in with the vocals. Her powerful throat can be heard on most of the songs on the record. If the new Bond film was set in Habana, "Let my dreams come true" would be a must for the soundtrack: Shirley Bassey and mojitos. She also sings on the powerful excellent jungle tracks "Sugar sugar (She she wah wah)", "Pay attention" and "Get out". But there's more on show: the Indian touch we mentioned earlier is developed on in "India" with the help of Swati Naketar, barefoot blues on "Shady people" and the jazz/hip hop we've always known US 3 for on "Why" just in case we forget whose record this actually is. All of this, however, is just a mere guideline to try and describe what is one of the best releases out at the moment. It's as good as the records released by Up Bustle & Out or Red Snaper last year. Now that's saying something!